Arrival day advice-meals, spectro & extended hours- what to do???

[tami82]

Ok we are arriving Aug 23 probably before noon to check in to our hotel. This is the day where they have extended night hours & Spectromagic. I dont know whether we should go to the park right away, relax at the pool area, or go later at night, and then there is the dinner issue. I have a Chef Mickey lunch at 2:00(i prefer to eat an early dinner though but cant get a reservation, as i want to be in the room & settled before we eat so i have the worst part behind me and i can start to have fun). I also came upon a 5:55 1900 Park Fare reservation last night and dont know if we should do that one instead. I dont know if its cutting it close to go to the parks & I dont want to be sluggish from eating all the food by the time we hit the parks.
I do plan on cancelling one of these reservations within the next few days.
Also what time do you suggest we go to the park since its extenede hours & Spectro night. This is our first time so i am not sure. What kind of disaster is it going during these times or should i be fine.

 

[Aliceacc]

OK, if you're getting to the resort at noon, you're going to have to be at the airport at the crack of dawn, right?? So you're on basically the same time schedule we are next week with our 8 am flight.

So that 2:00 lunch might be tough... I KNOW my kids won't survive that long. They're gong to need food WAAAYYYY before 2:00 pm.

I say re-schedule Chef Mickeys, and take the dinner at 1900 PF.

How old are your kids?

 

[DisTwix]

I would have to agree that you'll never make it waiting until 2pm. Everyone will be starving when you get off the plane.

Also - it makes a difference whether you are using ME or renting a car. If you are going to rely totally on WDW transportation, it will actually be a stressful rush to get to the 2pm ressie. If you get to the hotel @ noon, they are likely not going to have your room ready...

I am betting that since it's EMH and Spectro, MK will be packed (it was in Feb when we arrived to the same set up)... my advice would be to do whatever you need to do to get there realitively early so you can stake out a spot to see Spectro --- at least an hour early.

 

[DisTwix]

OH! And make sure you are on the side of the park you want to be to go ride rides in the stake-out scenario --- we literally got trapped in front of the castle. There were so many people it was literal gridlock across the bridge - and this was in FEBRUARY (first week, not a holiday).

 

[tami82]

Thanks, we will be driving not taking a plane.
Actually we will be staying at Nickelodeon hotel for 2 nights prior to staying onsite at Disney. We plan on leaving Nick around 10 or a bit later. Than again maybe not if anyone sees a reason we should get out of there earlier.

Ok here is a thought. Would you recommend that we maybe get to the parks way earlier before dinner and see how that goes. I dont want to leave Nick too early but do you think going to the park around noon just for an hour or two or three would be a bad idea with the sun & heat? Would we have a better experience starting our first time there during the early afternoon than at night and have to beat the huge crowds? I want it to be a good experience and thinking maybe going around noon when everyone leaves may be a little less packed for us????I guess i could put up with the horrible heat if it would be better for us all around. Then maybe i will just forget about going
back at night after dinner and just enjoy our dinner at 1900 Park Fare and relax for the night.
Any other opinions would be great.

Oh and my kids are 5, 7, and 17, all girls.

 

[DisTwix]

I got your PM and replied!

 

[annagirl]

Have you considered Downtown Disney? You could grab a quick lunch and shop till you drop!